26 Fantastic Examples of Star Wars Cosplay

When it comes to cosplay, one of the most common inspirations is Star Wars. And with good reason—it's one of the most iconic, best loved, and immediately recognizable franchises in the world. In preparation for Star Wars Day (May 4th, as in "May the Fourth be with you"), here are some of the greatest, and weirdest, Star Wars costumes ever created.

Unless otherwise stated, all images were taken by me at the San Diego Comic Con or the Wonder Con. You can find more of my convention images at my blog, Rue the Day.

Traditional Costumes

These days, Star Wars costumes are so common at conventions that more and more fans have taken to modifying their cosplay into new and interesting creations. That being said, there’s nothing wrong with a clean, classic Star Wars costume, and here are a few particularly great ones.

1. Leia and Han

You get a lot of Han and Leia couple’s costumes, but these two were really able to sell the passion between the pair. If you want to cosplay as Han, make sure you have his sidekick Wookiee in tow by picking up this talking Chewbacca plush toy from the mental_floss store.

3. Classic Leia

There are so many Slave Leias around, that it’s sometimes just refreshing to see a lovely Princess Leia in all of her clothes, like DeviantArt user Ivy95 here.

4. The Early Episodes

While the new Star Wars movies aren’t as popular as the three classics, there are still occasionally cosplayers who find inspiration from episodes one through three. Queen Amidala is a popular choice with the hardcore costume makers because her beautiful dresses are so elaborate.

5. From the TV Show

The Clone Wars have also been building a bit of a following and it’s becoming increasingly common to see characters from the animated show like this Ahsoka Tano.

Kid Costumes

While they tend to not be as accurate as the adult costumes, it’s hard to beat children’s cosplay when it comes to cuteness, and these Padawans are simply precious. (Here's hoping these kids have fun Star Wars-related books like Darth Vader and Son and Darth Vader's Little Princess on their bookshelves at home!)

6. Inside R2

It’s debatable if putting a baby into what is essentially a fashionable stroller really counts as cosplay, but there’s no way I could leave this precious little bundle out of this article.

7. Straight from Hoth

While this AT-ST looks great, the best part of this costume couldn’t actually be captured on film. That’s because his suit actually played the noise the walkers made in the films as this little guy walked the convention floor.

8. Little Leia

As if this dedicated little Leia’s yarn braids and collapsible light saber weren’t cute enough, she even had a plush R2D2 backpack with her.

9. Pet R2-D2

What happens when you make Princess Leia look particularly princess-y and give her an inflatable R2D2 friend? You end up with this adorable angel spotted by Jen at Epbot at Star Wars Celebration VI.

10. Twice as Nice

If you want your prodigies to be as intelligent and fun as C-3PO and R2D2 are, respectively, then it’s never too early to start encouraging such behavior. Makezine’s tutorial on how to make toddler droid dresses can get you started on the path of great parenting.

11. Sand Kid

Mashups

Because Star Wars costumes are so common and so easily identifiable, mashups have become increasingly common amongst cosplayers. Here are some particularly great examples.

12. Pimp my costume

This Pimp Vader and Fett are an annual fixture at the San Diego Comic Con as well as a few other conventions. And why not? When you make costumes this fun, you might as well get some use out of them.

13. Hunka Burning Trooper

Similarly, the Elvis Trooper on the left here has been attending plenty of conventions in his outfit for years now. In fact, he even has his own website. Like the real King though, Elvis Trooper doesn’t mind impersonators. In fact, when I caught him with a copycat at the SDCC, the two even sang a duet together.

14. Sun Trooper

With its wonderful weather and plenty of tourist-friendly activities, San Diego is a great vacation destination…and even Stormtroopers know it.

15. Hello Leia

Think Slave Leia is sexy? What about Hello Kitty? What if the two were combined, like they were in this costume spotted at Star Wars Celebration VI by Jen of Epbot?

16. Lego Leia

Speaking of unsexy versions of Slave Leia, this Minifig version, photographed by Flickr user insidethemagic, is a bit creepy to all but the most dedicated LEGO fans. Of course, it’s still an amazing and fun costume.

17. Pulp Wars

When I see this Pulp Fiction/Star Wars mashup picture by Tom Pigott, I can’t help but think, “And I will strike down upon thee with great vengeance and furious anger those who would attempt to poison and destroy my Emperor. And you will know my name is Darth when I lay the Darkside upon thee.”

18. Zombie Stormtrooper

These days, there are zombie versions of every costume imaginable, so it was inevitable that there would be zombie Star Wars characters as well. Then again, given how many Stormtroopers die during the franchise, The Empire would be ripe for a zombie apocalypse.

19. Kiss the Cook

Even the people who still enjoy episodes one through three still hate Jar Jar, so when Chef Darth serves up his head on a platter, everyone around seems thrilled with his cooking skills. You can try your own hand at making Star Wars treats with this cookbook, available in the mental_floss store.

20. Minnie-R2

While Minnie Mouse mixed with Star Wars characters seems odd, it starts to make sense when you remember that the company bought LucasArts—not only that, but this year’s Wonder Con was at the Anaheim convention center—right across the street from Disneyland. And so we have adorable R2-Minnie.

21. Minnie-Trooper

Even before the buyout was announced, the proximity of Star Wars Celebration VI to Epcot still gave this fan an excuse to be a Minnie Trooper, as photographed by Jen of Epbot.

22. At the Ballet

Similarly, ballet doesn’t really seem to fit in perfectly with the Star Wars universe, but it still makes for a fun cosplay opportunity. Here are C-3PO, Han and R2-D2 all ready to pirouette away at Wonder Con.

23. Tutus, Part Two

And Slave Leia and Darth Vader could make up Act II of this bizarre and fantastic ballet, even if they were at a totally different convention—Star Wars Celebration VI, as captured by Jen of Epbot.

24. Playing for the Dark Side

Are you ready for some football? These Miami Dolphins Dark Siders sure were, and I pity the one who tries to tackle Darth.

25. Family Wars

Family Guy created one of the most famous parodies of the franchise, so it’s not too surprising to that characters from the show popped up at Star Wars Celebration VI, and Jen of Epbot photographed the characters right in the perfect pose.

26. This is not a Joke

Because Harley and The Joker are just so crazy and silly, this seemingly odd costume mashup somehow seems right—if the characters were real, they would gladly cosplay as Jedis while trying to take over Gotham, just for fun. This particular image is my favorite of all the photos Jen from Epbot captured during the Star Wars Celebration.

As you may have guessed, this is by no means a full run-down of all the great Star Wars cosplay out there. Even a full website dedicated to the subject would have a hard time capturing all of the costumes from the franchise. Of course, if you know of any other Star Wars cosplay pictures that just can’t be missed, feel free to leave links or pictures in the comments.

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